The architecture of the Vancouver Public Library is strongly inspired by the ancient Rome coliseum. A famous architect Moshe Safdie designed the Vancouver Public Library in cooperation with the Associates and Downs/Archambault Partners. The building was afterwards constructed in 1995. The building process took two entire years, and during the time 315 arches divided into nine floors, many plazas and other architectonical features were built and together made an amazing building. At specific points, the exterior spiral of arches leaves the main body of the Vancouver Public Library like the spiraling arms of a wild hurricane. The Plazas created thanks to this type of architecture are the best places for relaxing, resting, debating and studying in the Vancouver Public Library. In the Vancouver Public Library there are also shops and fast food restaurants what makes the place even more attractive for some people. Critics however say, that the shops are undignified in a public owned library and also that the library was too expensive. The whole construction wasn’t cheap, it cost 106,800,000.00 Canadian dollars and 300,000.00 Canadian dollars to move all the stuff from the old library here with 600 truckloads. The nearest alternative for people with negative attitudes towards the Vancouver Public Library is the old library on Burrard Street. The opposition describes the Vancouver Public Library as a cold complex of brushed concrete and glass, but for those who like the Vancouver Public Library will it stay a “modernist classic”. The Vancouver Public Library is an educational institution, but there are also some government offices, so the Vancouver Public Library can be described as a government building too. The government offices are there because some free space emerged when the construction of the Vancouver Public Library was finished and the own library with the shops occupied only seven from the nine floors. The library has very modern equipment for handicapped people in it, for example it is fully accessible by wheelchair, it is equipped with modern personal hearing devices, automatic page turners, remote control for elevators for people unable to reach the buttons on the wall and many others helpful devices. Without any doubts, the Vancouver Public Library is a place for visitors seeking for wisdom and information in Vancouver.